Lockett v. Ohio

Lockett v. Ohio
Argued January 17, 1978
Decided July 3, 1978
Full case nameLockett v. Ohio
Citations438 U.S. 586 (more)
98 S. Ct. 2954; 57 L. Ed. 2d 973; 1978 U.S. LEXIS 133
Case history
PriorState v. Lockett, 49 Ohio St. 2d 48, 358 N.E.2d 1062 (1976); cert. granted, 434 U.S. 889 (1977).
Holding
The Ohio statute violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments in failing to require consideration of all mitigating factors surrounding the accused murderer before coming to the decision to apply the death penalty.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
MajorityBurger (parts I and II), joined by Stewart, White, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, Stevens
PluralityBurger (part III), joined by Stewart, Powell, Stevens
ConcurrenceBlackmun (in part and in judgment)
ConcurrenceMarshall (in judgment)
Concur/dissentWhite
Concur/dissentRehnquist
Brennan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV

Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that sentencing authorities must have the discretion to consider at least some mitigating factors, rather than being limited to a specific list of factors.